5 Games Better Than Silent Hill 5
Sep. 30Let's face the grim reality before us: the new Silent Hill won't send you screaming to the soft, safe bosom of your closest loved one. But there are other games that will give you a sense of true terror. When you play these games alone, your mind will transform a simple shadow on the wall into a deadly phantom. Your sleep will be interrupted by the screaming of dying bodies. The daylight will be your respite, but the darkness of the setting sun will bring the fear born from these games back into your hearts...
5. Dead Rising
Why It's Better: Unlike the lackluster combat in the new Silent Hill, killing wave after wave of undead creepers never gets tiresome. Whether you've got your plain 'ol fists or a shiny blood-soaked katana, the decapitations and dismemberments were always deliciously fun. Even the side stories were amusing, and after a few completed story runs, there was still plenty to do and see at Willamette Parkview Mall.
4. Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Why It's Better: We have two words for you -- BEAR ATTACK. You thought that cracked-out druggies and the doll factory were the spawn of nightmares, but the accursed bear in Condemned 2 made us crap our pants in sheer fright. The combat system was also just frightening as the game's dark atmosphere, especially since you literally had to get in every bleeding, puss-filled, festering enemy's face to kill them.
3. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Why It's Better: Japanese cult horror is one of the most terrifying things you'll ever see, especially in a video game. Even worse, you have no weapons to defend yourself from the ghostly villagers in Fatal Frame II -- just a camera. You're no police officer or maverick American, naturally inclined to kick ass and take names -- you're just a scared little Japanese girl in a village full of murderous ghosts trying to kill you. Will you rescue your twin sister or simply die... and become part of a gruesome blood ritual?
2. Resident Evil 4
Why It's Better: The Los Illumindos are still some of the smartest and most dangerous enemies we've faced in any horror survival game, which is more than we can say about Silent Hill 5's minions. With chainsaw-wielding psychos, 50-foot lake monsters, and a crazy mercenary with one Hell of an arm blister, every step of Resident Evil 4 was one that plunged you further into impossible odds of survival. And who could forget the 1-to-100 odds of that memorable farmhouse fight?
1. Silent Hill 2
Why It's Better: Nothing's more terrifying than being in a place that reeks of death and rot, with only your shattered state of mind to make the hallucinations worse. The realm of Silent Hill is the embodiment of a personal Hell, and main character James's vision of Silent Hill has consistently been the scariest one yet. Silent Hill 2 doesn't even let your mind rest at peace when the game is over, since each one of the four main endings still leaves your character with the psychological burden of your loved one's murder. Spoiler alert: YOU KILLED HER.
Comments
Great list Ken! It is such a bummer that the new Silent Hill is bad...but there are about 10 other upcoming horror titles that still look bad ass. If you need to look forward to some zombie killing and true terror, keep your eyes peeled for RE5, Left 4 Dead, and Dead Space. Plus I got to give props for Condemned 2. That game was so creepy!
so Dead Rising gave you that feeling of impending doom? and Fatal Frame too?
Uuh,News-flash, . . neither one was scary.
You want scary go watch Frontier(s)........you want a great horror game go play "Nanatsu No Hikan" for the dreamcast........."Condemned 1 & 2 were NOT scary man. THey were trippy and psychological thrillers, a little disturbing.
The Siren remake was scarier than all of those up there except RE4, . . that's a classic
fatal frame is so scary. i never finished silent hill 2
I love RE 4, Dead Rising, and Silent Hill 4. Everyone I've talked to has Said SH 2 is one of the best games out there, and I just got Origins (ps2) and I have to say it lacks a little bit (then again it was meant for PSP). I'm still gonna try Homecoming, and now I have to start looking for the other games on that list.
Good list! I would have included Alone in the Dark for PS1/DC and Clock Tower 3 for PS2. AITD didn't have me running, it had me crawling along. And CT3, a young girl gets her head bashed in with a giant hammer. Fun for the entire family!
Hey Ken...why don't YOU make something better huh? Schmuck.
I have completed all of the Silent Hill games and I got to say that the 2nd is the best :)
sorry, but i don't consider Resident Evil 4 a "Scary" video game, since its more action oriented. if you want to add a "scary Resident Evil", then i'd suggest at least RE2. Condemned series never appealed to me, but the rest i can accept.
HA HA HA HA HA.
U misleidde Philistines. De macht die u zich verzet zal u uiteindelijk allen veroveren. Weet u dat de Goden van Dood van appelen houden?
It's been a pleasure.
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I'd put any one of these games over Silent Hill.. and take Silent Hill 2 right off the list.. that game was a yawn fest in my opinion. RE4, REmake, and Condemned 2 are my favourites. Condemned scared the crap out of me because it's so immersive. The way your character moves, the sound effects, graphics, shadows etc.. how your character starts to hallucinate out of nowhere and at the worst times, you don't know what's around the corner or behind you until it's usually too late.
just a suggestion for your next article, next time you put a spoiler in a sentence try not to put the warning NEXT to the spoiler.
*shakes head*
I don't know, I'm not entirely inclined to agree with this list. First of all, whilst Resident Evil 4 is a superb game, I'd be reluctant to place it directly into the horror genre as it was more of an action game to me, especially when compared to previous Resident Evil games. As for Dead Rising...well, it did have some fun innovations and the like but a poor objective pointer and eventual tediousness of killing swathes of zombies sort of killed it for me. On the other hand, I think Condemned is deservedly including, the unsettling, immersive nature that you experience really does get to you. And Silent Hill 2 is, in my own opinion, the pinnacle of horror gaming. It's intelligent, well structured, immersive and above all, it DID scare me.
As for games that I'd have liked to have seen; Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth springs to mind, there were a few good shocks in the game, and when you're forced to limp along with a broken leg, damn that makes you cringe. Clive Barker's Undying also comes to mind. Bioshock (if you consider it horror), Post Mortem and Still Life also deserve a mention :)
yes re4 was a fun game, but to call it anything other than action and adventure is misleading. the only games on this list that were SCARY, meaning, they were creepy and made you fear something, and not the kind of fear that you get from being overwhelmed by enemies in a video game (you could call a late stage of Galagla or centipede 'scary' with that logic) were silent hill 2 and fatal frame 2. if you dont think they are truly scary and creepy in a horror sense, you did not play them. the other games (dead rising? that was more comedy than horror)and unfortunately, re4 were not scary at all. the first few re games were horror games, but i aam unhappy that they ditched the dark, survival horror theme of early re games in favor of a gears of war type of 'horror'. not scary at all.
Dead Rising and RE4 are great games, but not even close to scary. Homecoming isn't the best game in the world, but its not as bad as some of bad reviews say. There are quite a few contradictions between the good reviews and the bad ones. In this case, its best that people play it themselves and judge accordingly.
Great list but I always thought Obscure 2 or Silent Hill origins were a little better than Silent hill 2 which is awsome.
Lots of people haven't heard about those 2 though.
But there is a playthrough on youtube of both if you want to check them out.
Thanks for putting SH2 at the top of this list... I have had my doubts on Homecoming since it was annouced that Team Silent would not be working on it, with the exception of Akira Yamaoka. I love that guy, but his magic alone is not enough to conjure the likes of, well, you guessed it, SH2.
Cheers.
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